diff --git a/pkgs/development/tools/rust/racerd/default.nix b/pkgs/development/tools/rust/racerd/default.nix
index ae282584aaff..aa33f04123f5 100644
--- a/pkgs/development/tools/rust/racerd/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/development/tools/rust/racerd/default.nix
@@ -4,17 +4,20 @@ with rustPlatform;
 
 buildRustPackage rec {
   name = "racerd-${version}";
-  version = "2017-09-15";
+  version = "2019-03-20";
   src = fetchFromGitHub {
     owner = "jwilm";
     repo = "racerd";
-    rev = "29cd4c6fd2a9301e49931c2e065b2e10c4b587e4";
-    sha256 = "0knz881mjhd8q2i8ydggaa7lfpiqy11wjmnv5p80n1d8zca6yb7z";
+    rev = "6f74488e58e42314a36ff000bae796fe54c1bdd1";
+    sha256 = "1lg7j2plxpn5l65jxhsm99vmy08ljdb666hm0y1nnmmzalrakrg1";
   };
 
+  # a nightly compiler is required unless we use this cheat code.
+  RUSTC_BOOTSTRAP=1;
+
   doCheck = false;
 
-  cargoSha256 = "0rxr8l5fhryxqf141sb2j4bjxdikj2hd7bnhbicgm35c9f6cir4m";
+  cargoSha256 = "15894qr0kpp5kivx0p71zmmfhfh8in0ydkvfirxh2r12x0r2jhdd";
 
   buildInputs = [ makeWrapper ];
 
@@ -23,7 +26,7 @@ buildRustPackage rec {
   installPhase = ''
     mkdir -p $out/bin
     cp -p target/release/racerd $out/bin/
-    wrapProgram $out/bin/racerd --set RUST_SRC_PATH "$RUST_SRC_PATH"
+    wrapProgram $out/bin/racerd --set-default RUST_SRC_PATH "$RUST_SRC_PATH"
   '';
 
   meta = with stdenv.lib; {